Remedy
by aolande1
Summary: "What I did today was wrong.  I shouldn't have left you."  Alternate ending to 2x07.  What if Andy hadn't have said everything was fine?


A/N: So this is just a quickie that came to me after watching 2x07 for the second time. It's not meant to be a lovey dovey piece but more of a forgiving/healing piece. What if Andy hadn't have just said everything was fine when her and Sam were talking in the locker room? Below is my take on it. I hope you guys enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: Let me check, nope still don't own it.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry I left you," Sam let out as he watched her gather her stuff from the locker.<p>

"It's okay," she answered quick not even bothering to look at him.

A few seconds passed. "No, you know what, Sam? It's not okay," Andy added harshly bringing her eyes up to meet his. She saw his face fill with guilt.

"Andy…" he tried to speak but to no avail. She clearly wanted to get this off her chest and he knew there was nothing he would be able to say until she was done.

"He almost strangled me, Sam. I could have died. And where were you? Oh yeah, not having my back," she let out not being able to tame the anger simmering in her core. But really, if she was honest with herself, it was more hurt than anger.

"McNally, I…" Sam tried again but was stopped by the slam her locker made as she shut it hard.

"It's what you always say, right? To have each other's backs no matter what. Then tell me. Why the hell didn't you have mine today?" She was breathing hard now. She was so angry. Not only at him but at everything. And he was an easy target at the moment. She was angry she got tied up by a psycho. Angry and still scared as shit that she almost died. She was angry with Luke. She was angry at that blonde bitch for making her do a pizza run. And she was angry that the one person who promised to always have her back didn't.

"There's no…" He was silenced again by her voice. God, he just couldn't get a word in.

"You just left…" she began again only this time it was his turn to silence her.

He walked forward and grabbed both of her shoulders physically pleading with her to stop talking so he could explain. "Andy, will you let me speak? Jesus, McNally, I get it, okay? I left you. I didn't have your back out there today. There's no excuse for it."

She exhaled slowly as he released his grip on her shoulders. She kept her eyes locked to his as she waited for him to continue.

"What I did today was wrong. I shouldn't have left you," he admitted searching her eyes hoping she understood the apology he was trying to get out. She looked so hurt. Once he saw past the anger hurt was all he could see.

"You always tell me to trust my gut, Sam. That's what I did today," she tried to explain. She didn't want to be mad at him. Yeah he left her, but the situation wasn't entirely his fault. Wasn't his fault at all if she really thought about it. She just wanted him to understand why she was so persistent earlier. Understand the reason she pushed so hard throughout the day. Understand why she continued to push even without him by her side.

"I know. I know that." And he did. She was right. He doubted her. He didn't give her theory the time of day and she was right. He was just so sick of her desperately trying to connect Ray Nixon and Zoe Martinelli to this case. He was sick of her agreeing with Luke, backing Luke. How could she after what he did to her?

"You didn't trust me," she let out in one of the most defeated voices he had ever heard from her. He was her partner. His one and only job was to trust her and have her back. But instead, he let her down and nearly got her killed in the process.

He exhaled hard as he took a seat on the bench. "Andy, it's not that I didn't trust you," he started but hesitated to finish.

"Then why, Sam? Why'd you walk away?" she asked as she took a seat next to him. She just wanted to know why. She needed to know why.

"I don't know, Andy. A lot of different reasons, I guess," he said as he turned to look at her for a brief second before continuing. "I honestly wasn't sure if the two cases were related. It sounded good on paper, and believe me I wanted to get that bastard just as bad as everyone else, but Nixon's alibi checked out. We had no solid evidence pinning him to this case. Just his old M.O. from three years ago." He finished shaking his head in disgust at the fact that he ever doubted himself. Here he was telling Andy she was right to trust her gut yet he completely abandoned his own.

"And Luke, he just wanted it so damn bad that he started grasping at straws and that's the one thing that never gets the job done. I thought he was too close to the case. He was losing it so I started to doubt his word. But you didn't. You pushed and pushed and finally I just had it. I figured if you wanted to back Callaghan and go after Nixon…who was I to stop you? So I walked," he finished hoping she understood where he was coming from. He wasn't trying to justify his actions, just help her see that there were a lot of factors that led to him walking away.

"But this was never about me backing Luke, Sam. This was about me following my instincts," she retorted as she began to piece together everything he had just said. Sam was a great cop. She would never doubt that. But he had a lot on his plate today because she had a lot on hers. It often worked that way with them. If something was bothering one of them, something was bothering both of them. It's simply how they operated. And at times like this it wasn't always a good thing.

"And I'm so glad you did, Andy. If you hadn't have we might never have gotten Nixon," he said not being able to hide the pride he took in her ability to be an outstanding cop. That's really what mattered here. He doubted her. She didn't. And she solved the case.

She nodded. At just that moment she let it sink in. She closed the case. She found the evidence they needed to put Nixon away.

"I'm sorry I let you down today. I let my personal feelings get in the way of the job. My emotions took over and I apologize for that," he let out along with his signature grin he knew always made her smile.

"It's okay," she answered for the second time that night. And it was. No hard feelings.

"You mean it this time?" he joked as he put his hands up in a surrendering motion.

She laughed and pushed his hands down. "I understand where you were coming from. I get it." She sent a knowing smile back to him.

"You gonna be okay?" he asked knowing she would understand the weight of the question.

She took a few moments to think before nodding and answering, "Yeah, you?"

"Yeah." They were going to be just fine.

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts?<em>


End file.
